Table of Contents

belongs to such as these” (Mark 10:14). Jesus also told a parable about a man who had a huge debt forgiven, yet refused to show pity when a man who owed him a small amount refused to pay. Instead, he choked him and had him thrown in prison. In the end, He got his punishment, as you can imagine. I know from years of experience that “compassion fatigue” can be very dangerous. Despite the fact the Bible says. “Let us not lose heart in doing good” (Galatians 6:9), there are those times we’ve reached the end of our rope, with nothing left in the tank. For whatever reason, Gehazi displayed a total lack of sympathy toward the Shunammite. Prayerless- Early African converts to Christianity were known to be earnest and consistent in their private devotions. It has been said that each person had a private spot in the brush where they would go and pour their heart out to God. As a result of their faithfulness, paths to their places became well worn over time. If someone became negligent in prayer, it soon became noticeable to the others. They would gently remind the delinquent one, “Brother, the grass grows on your path.” Apparently, grass had grown over the path to Gehazi’s prayer spot, if in fact, he ever had one. We have no record of him taking time to communicate with God, despite the example set by Elisha. I understand the difficulty. Yet when I get sluggish and inconsistent in prayer, I become increasingly judgmental, more doubtful than faithful, and more distracted by temptation. Powerless- Note what happened when Gehazi went ahead to the young lad who had died by this point. He “laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to Elisha and told him, ‘The boy has not awakened’” (2 Kings 4:31).

3